


Let's Meet Again in the Next Life

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Series: At Dusk, I Will Think of You... [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), AkuRoku Week, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Background Relationships, Fluff, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-10 18:41:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20140168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: "Yeah. I'll be waiting."





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> For [AkuRoku Week 2019](https://seasaltandflurryflames.tumblr.com/post/186794693108/akuroku-is-86-813-reunion-disaster-sea-salt).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I haven't seen you in so long."
> 
> "Too long."

Axel often found himself standing at the train station for no particular reason.

Well.

Honestly, it wasn’t like he couldn’t _find_ one. He was sure there was some reason or another he had to take a trip out of the city. Maybe take a break from his job—if they’d let him, he’d _just_ transferred there from Radiant Garden after all—and enjoy a night out on the town. Maybe take a trip to the beach and stuff himself full of pretzels until he eventually popped or go linger at a bar until he was drunk enough to wander to a hotel room and pass out on a bed. He’d be uninterested in taking anyone to that bed with him; he’d lost interest in that by his late twenties.

Besides. He had the distinct feeling he was waiting for someone.

They often said when you met that one special person, you’d know immediately. You’d even know why you knew. The pieces would just fit. Perfectly.

Of course, Axel had been ending up at this same train station for the past six months and he wasn’t really banking on the fact that he’d meet that special someone there. All he’d ever seen were old folks and commuting businessmen entering and leaving. No special feelings there, thank the stars.

He didn’t exactly want any of them to be that special person. He couldn’t imagine hanging off the arm of a doddering old lady like some bright red sad sack of sugar baby arm candy. And he was fairly certain the businessmen had a type, and that this type did not include six odd feet of bumbling, thirty-year-old shut in.

Axel hadn’t even really gone anywhere _but_ the train station.

Which brought him back to the here and now. He’d been loitering for the past half hour, leaned up against the Struggle poster on the wall by the ticket booth and being judged by the ticket lady. Arms crossed and face blank so as to create the severe illusion of someone with a purpose. He was there for a reason, he wanted his posture to say. He wasn’t just standing around like an idiot because he had nothing better to do. He could say he actually was waiting for someone.

Today, he learned, he’d finally met this someone he hadn’t known he’d been waiting for. _Really_ waiting for.

It’d been as innocuous as usual, in fact. The train pulled into the station with a loud hiss and a squeal, bringing with it the smell of rusting metal and the rush of pattering feet. The businessmen, as usual. They bustled out of the train car with a vigor Axel wished he could achieve for at least ten minutes of his lifetime. Behind them, the old folks wobbled out on their canes and walkers, smiling absently as they wandered off down the stairs—which, granted, was probably dangerous if they really weren’t paying attention. Maybe the odd mother of two or three, or the weary traveler with bags of groceries, or the small group of school children babbling about inane things wandered out as well.

That wasn’t what caught Axel’s eye.

What caught Axel’s eye were a pair of sky-blue ones staring directly back at him.

The back of his mind registered the rest of the image: windswept blond locks, long golden lashes, pouty lips and a buttony nose set in a face that couldn’t decide if it wanted to keep to the boyishness of the guy’s youth or accept its fate and give into maturity, a short stature swathed in baggy gray jeans and a loose white t-shirt, scuffed backpack over a shoulder and secured with tight fingers as the free hand ran through that sunny hair, mussing it into a messy mockery of what it just was. Conventionally attractive in every way and certainly not the type one expected to see stepping off of a train in Twilight Town.

But those _eyes_.

They were _everything_.

They were shining bright in the sunset, a deep contrast to the dark, dull blankness they’d held weeks prior. They were glittering with humor as he laughed, with mirth as he smiled. They were wide with excitement as he talked about his new friend. _Their_ new friend; someone Axel hadn’t even known existed until he suddenly remembered that she did. They were soft with admiration, something Axel had never expected to deserve and yet he’d craved it once he’d gotten a taste. He wanted to be better for it. He wanted to see it in those eyes again and again and again…

He remembered them narrowed in anger. In distrust and betrayal. He remembered them flat with acceptance. Burning with revenge. Shining with sadness.

He remembered everything, looking in those eyes.

Oh. This was what they meant when they said you’d know you met that special someone. It’d hit like lightning: when one least expected it and strong enough to knock them off their feet.

And Axel wasn’t even sure if he was still _attached_ to his feet. Surely he was floating somewhere in the realm between existence and nonexistence. Once upon a time, he literally _had been_. Now, looking at the man who stood across from him in front of closing train doors, it all came back.

_Roxas_.

It didn’t occur to him that he’d spoken the name aloud. It didn’t hit him that it repeatedly left his lips like a mantra, drawing the owner of that name towards him until a finger was pressed against them. The scrape of sneakers against cement didn’t register. The familiar grin and the glint in those blue, blue eyes didn’t register. But they touched and reality hit Axel like a truck, sending him crashing back down to here and now.

He was breathing heavily by this point, which was alarming considering he hadn’t even moved from his spot, and his lips tingled where Roxas’ finger was pressed against them. His gaze trained ahead, seeing and unseeing all at once. Emotions he couldn’t even begin to describe welled up inside him.

And he started to cry.

“Roxas…”

In Axel’s defense, Roxas was crying too.

Granted, he thought they both had good reasons to be.

“Did you wait for me?” Roxas asked with a sniffle and a watery smile. Axel grabbed his hand, the one with the finger pressed against his mouth, and held it tight within his own. It was still smaller than his, though the calluses from holding a weapon and being forced to fight every day were gone, replaced instead with a smooth softness that warmed his palm. He found himself tranquil with even just this tiny bit of knowledge. The idea that whatever Roxas had been up to in this lifetime, it didn’t include hardship.

“Of course I did. I told you I’d meet you again.” In the next life.

Who would’ve thought it’d actually work out this way. Was this why he jumped on the opportunity to transfer to Twilight Town the moment the offer had been tossed in the air? Was this why he found himself at the Sunset Terrace station of all places instead of the Clocktower station where most would be expected to wait for loved ones? Did his heart know he’d find Roxas again here?

It used to sound cheesy until it actually happened and now here he was. Together again with his best friend, the same one he hadn’t seen in years. Centuries maybe. Who even knew how long it’d been until they were born again.

Roxas laughed that same familiar laugh in that same low, gentle voice and looped his fingers through Axel’s, squeezing his hand. And Axel was torn between holding tight to that hand, determined not to lose Roxas again, and letting go of it to wrap him up tight in a long-deserved hug.

The latter urge won out.

Roxas blinked up at him in surprise for only a second when Axel’s hand slipped from his, but it disappeared just as quickly when he circled his arms around Roxas and pulled him to his chest. His face buried in those golden locks, wetting them with tears he had forgotten were still falling. His entire being quivered with a spinning wheel of emotions: joy, excitement, relief, longing…

Love.

Wow. He hadn’t thought about it in so long. It never seemed to work out for him and after a while he’d stopped trying. Stopped going on dates and meeting new people. Stopped caring.

Somehow Roxas had swept him up into the thick of it without even trying. With doing nothing but stepping off of a train and reintroducing himself into Axel’s life.

It was all so overwhelming, really. Axel had never even thought past lives _existed_ and now all of a sudden he was reliving memories he’d never experienced in this lifetime. Feelings he’d never experienced in this lifetime.

He wondered if Roxas knew. Or if he’d felt the same. They’d lived out the rest of their lives in the past with such a clean and friendly distance, trying to scrounge up some sort of existence that didn’t involve keyblades and Nobodies and Xehanort, that they’d never approached this subject. Axel kept it to himself all that time. He wanted Roxas to flourish in his own life, and he’d done so with such a fierce brightness that Axel couldn’t dare interfere. He’d stayed fast friends with Roxas but…

He’d never told him how he felt.

He wondered if it would have been untoward to do so now. He so, so wanted to but…

They literally just met again for the first time. Axel didn’t even know why Roxas was _here_. Or why he hadn’t been here in the first place.

“What’re you doing here anyway?” he asked, and he found himself cringing at how it came out. He didn’t mean for it to sound like he was upset Roxas was here. Quite the opposite, actually.

Roxas took it for its true meaning thankfully. He laughed quietly and looped his own arms around Axel’s waist, finally returning what had started as a one-sided hug. That would’ve gotten awkward fast otherwise, and Axel was trying hard to ignore the butterflies fluttering around in his gut at the warm band around his waist, burning through his shirt and lingering against his skin.

Yeesh. When was he allowed to do this? All this poetic gooey nonsense? He was thirty; this was supposed to be kept to schoolgirl crushes or something.

Didn’t stop him from feeling it though.

“I don’t know why I’m here honestly,” Roxas shrugged. Axel could feel his breath against his chest, just over his heart, and it sent an embarrassing flush over him that suddenly made the schoolgirl comparison that much more apt. “I’m supposed to be on vacation, but everyone was telling me to go somewhere fancy like the Garden or Scala. Never expected to take a train to Twilight Town.”

Huh.

Axel pulled back just an inch to look over Roxas again, finally taking the whole of him in. He was taller and tanner than Axel remembered. Still short, but not so much that Axel could comfortably use the top of his head as an armrest. His face, neck and arms covered in an array of freckles against sun-warmed skin. His hair bleached a brighter shade than the dirty blond it used to be. Older than he had been when Axel first met him in the previous life. Likely in his twenties, just judging by his face. Maybe a few more subtle differences existed that Axel wouldn’t be able to pinpoint in the moment, but everything was still undeniably Roxas.

So why wasn’t he in Twilight Town to begin with? It seemed odd that he’d be taking a vacation to the place he’d spent his entire previous life. It was such a part of Roxas that he seemed almost incomplete, having not been there from the get-go. Axel was surprised he himself hadn’t been born here the second time around. Sure, Radiant Garden was his home the first time around. But he had so many memories in Twilight Town that Radiant Garden barely held any connection to him. He had no regrets leaving the place.

Axel was sure his confusion showed on his face, and Roxas finally stepped out of the hug, letting their arms fall to their sides, before bending down to pick up the backpack Axel hadn’t even realized Roxas had dropped.

“I guess you wanna know where I’ve been?” he asked, face downward as he slung the backpack over both of his shoulders. Head turned back to check on the rest of his luggage that the train attendant must’ve pulled out for him. It was only one suitcase, ideal for a small vacation. Roxas didn’t continue as he went back to grab it, thanking the attendant for not just leaving it there so he wouldn’t have to scramble after it later, before rolling it over to the stairs.

He stopped at the top of them and those blue eyes met Axel’s once more. Only when he nodded his head towards the rest of the Terrace did Axel finally move from his spot.

Smiling brighter than he had in years, Axel joined Roxas at his side.

-o-

“So… Destiny Islands, huh.”

It…made sense, actually. Considering who Roxas had come from, who he’d _been_ even, Axel shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d be reborn there.

“Destiny Islands. It’s kinda funny, ‘cause I never considered myself a ‘beach and sunshine’ kinda guy—”

“Nonsense,” Axel cut in, grinning and ruffling Roxas’ hair. A shock of tingles ran over the skin of his hand when Roxas brushed it away. “You’re the sunniest guy I know.”

“Haha,” Roxas snorted. His hands swung at his sides leisurely, freed when Axel offered to wheel his suitcase, looking more relaxed than Axel had ever seen him. His head tipped back slightly as if he was enjoying the warmth of the sunset on his freckled face. A tiny smile played at his lips and his eyes were lidded. He was the picture of sunny as far as Axel was concerned.

Even if he seemed to disagree.

“That’s more Sora. He’s all about sunshine and rainbows. I just trailed behind him most of our lives.”

Axel had the distinct feeling ‘in his shadow’ was supposed to follow that sentence. He patted Roxas’ hair again, this time softly running his fingers through it. Notably, his hand wasn’t pushed away again.

“So you know Sora in this life too, huh?” Axel asked. He wasn’t going to be the one to linger on what possibly was a sore subject.

“Yeah. Riku too, but I mostly hung around Sora.”

“Don’t tell me. You two are brothers or something,” Axel chuckled. Roxas grinned and rolled his eyes, catching a mesmerizing glint of sunlight with them. Still as blue as ever.

“Surprisingly, no. I’m not even related to him. We still look alike, though. It’s kinda funny: we lived down the street from one another, grew up together, consider each other family… By all means, we should be related.” Roxas stuck his hands in his pockets then, shrugging his shoulders as a contemplative look pulled the corners of his mouth down into something more neutral. “I guess this is nature’s way of giving me a break. Letting me be my own person; not just some shadow of Sora.”

“And?” Axel pressed. “Are you happy about that?”

The smile came back, relievingly, though it was small and subdued.

“Yeah, I guess. But I was also pretty oblivious to who he really is up ‘til now, so does it even matter?”

“Does it matter to you?”

That was what truly mattered. Roxas finally had a say in his own life now. How he felt finally had an impact; he was allowed to express it now. Axel wanted him to. He wanted to hear for himself how free Roxas was from his past shackles.

“I…I guess it does.” Roxas looked up to Axel then, stopping in the middle of the cobbled road. Their walk back to Market Street where the friends Roxas was staying with lived, as he’d vehemently ranted about hotel prices in Twilight Town and how his online friends were incredibly generous to save him that munny and let him crash with them, was a slow amble. A chance to give them time to enjoy one another’s company. Axel was tempted to offer that Roxas stay with him instead, but that might’ve been a bit too much.

Especially considering these…_feelings_. They were a bit strong and Axel needed time to sort through them himself anyway.

They were old and new all at once. A mixture of fond memories of times they never experienced in their current states and that new excitement at the chance of getting to know Roxas all over again. Which was, uh.

Overwhelming, to say the least.

Where the words ‘stay with me’ had fizzled on the tip of his tongue, Axel instead licked his lips nervously and scratched at the back of his head.

“So. What was it like being an island kid this time around?” he asked. Briefly and vaguely, he wondered how old Roxas was now. He wouldn’t ask though. It didn’t really matter in the end, not when they’d already grown old together.

He wondered if that should’ve blown his mind as much as it sounded like it should have. Somehow it didn’t. It was just so natural, closing his eyes and remembering everything he’d gone through. Knowing he’d live a far more peaceful life this time around.

“It was, uhh…” Roxas trailed off, his own eyes rolling up to the sky and his finger scratching at his cheek as he thought. “Hmm. I mean, I guess it’s like any other childhood. We went to the beach a lot. The houses are bigger than they used to look. I ended up getting dragged to the other island a lot with Sora when he wanted to harass me into playing with him.”

Despite the tone of his words, Roxas had a fond look in his eyes as he spoke of his life growing up. He mentioned stories about the weird sorts of marine life Sora would snatch out of the water to show to Roxas and Riku. He spoke of afternoons after school, strolling around in the sand, burying his friends’ feet under it or shoveling it into castles. He spoke of his schooling itself and how he’d floated along with slightly above average grades all the way through college—giving Axel a vague answer to the question he’d been tempted to ask—before taking up a small job at Sora’s dad’s place to help his mother pay bills, especially after his dad had died. Axel felt that one a little close to home, though he’d been living a long-lost past when he’d lost his parents and shook off his normal life to apprentice at the castle.

It turned out that Roxas was still living at home, mostly to take care of his mother, and that she was the one who encouraged him to take a break.

“She was pushy as all hell about it too,” Roxas laughed. “Said I needed to stop trying to coddle her; something about being a grown woman and having raised me and all that. It turned into a rant that I tuned out for the most part, but the general message got across. I think she just wanted me out of the house so she could have some space.”

Axel tipped his head back and laughed loudly, ignoring how his voice echoed off of the townhomes and the dirty looks he received from the residents in response. Sure they could’ve technically hopped the train in the opposite direction and avoided the long walk to Market Street as well as the racket they caused along the way, but he would’ve missed _this_. The chance to really talk to Roxas again. He’d have kicked himself if he’d passed this up.

“Sounds like _my_ mother,” Axel joked, loving the way Roxas’ eyes lit up at the information and feeling his heart beat that much harder at the idea that he could describe it as such.

Damn. He’d learned to love many things in this new lifetime and yet somehow it felt so _different_ with Roxas.

Special someone indeed.

“Okay, I spilled my secrets. Now it’s your turn. What’s your mother like?” Roxas asked, pausing in front of one of the townhomes. Axel had taken a few steps more, not realizing that they were stopping, and his foot hung in the air as he turned back to Roxas. Sky blue flickered up towards the address and back to Axel meaningfully. This must’ve been where he was staying then. Axel peeked at the address too, taking note of the house number and logging it for later.

“Tell you what. I’ll tell you more about her over lunch tomorrow?” It’d give Roxas a chance to settle in at the very least.

He was met with a raised eyebrow and a knowing grin.

“Asking me on a date, are you?”

“Only if you say yes.”

The grin smoothed into a smile. And was followed by a confident nod.

That was…far more of a relief than Axel had expected. He didn’t know what he’d do if Roxas had said no. If he decided to keep their relationship at a respectable distance the way they had in the previous life, Axel would gladly respect that but…

But…

He’d always wanted more. He still wanted more. And it sent him over the moon to know that Roxas wanted that too.

He’d be patient about it though. Slow and steady won the race.

Maybe he couldn’t quite resist touching though…

Nothing implicit, just a soft pat to Roxas’ arm. It was uncovered due to Roxas’ short sleeves. Warm and smooth and taut with lithe muscle, and it burned at Axel’s skin far warmer than any flame he’d ever produced.

“’Round noon then? I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

Roxas peered up at Axel with wide, welcoming eyes and a tiny, almost coy smile playing at his lips.

“I haven’t seen you in so long,” he said as he reached up, no longer needing to stand on his tiptoes Axel noted with amusement, and cupped Axel’s cheek gently. Axel leaned into the touch without a second thought.

“Too long,” he responded. And it truly had been _too long_. They had a lot of lost time to make up for.

“Yeah. Too long. So I guess I will see you when I see you. Don’t keep me waiting,” Roxas murmured, his hand sliding away from Axel’s face before he reached down and grabbed the handle of his luggage from Axel’s hand. With one last smile and a wink thrown over his shoulder, Roxas climbed the few stairs up to the door, being welcomed inside only seconds after he pushed the doorbell. When the light from inside slowly wiped away as the door closed again, Axel finally responded.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”


	2. Sea Salt Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Salty, but sweet."
> 
> "You said that the first time!"

The morning leading up to the lunch date was…interesting, to say the least.

It’d started so normally that Axel wasn’t entirely sure if he’d just dreamt up the golden-haired man who’d appeared at the train station. He’d woken up to the sound of a blaring alarm, groggily swatted at it until it stopped screaming at him, dragged himself into the shower and started his day from there. He’d been halfway through his second cup of coffee in fact before it finally hit him.

He had a date.

With Roxas.

Roxas. Who said yes. To Axel asking him on a date.

Suddenly the day went from chill weekend morning to a clusterfuck of clothes strewn around, thrown off hangers as Axel tried to find something that didn’t scream ‘formal and desperate’ but also wasn’t so casual that it would look like he wasn’t taking the date seriously. Which was ridiculous in the first place seeing as Roxas had said yes to what was clearly a date so of course he knew Axel was taking it seriously, Axel was the one who’d asked—

Somewhere in the midst of his mini freak-out, he’d just barely caught the sound of his doorbell ringing. Fleetingly he wondered if Roxas had somehow found his address but that was unlikely. Who would he have even spoken to to get it? Axel only knew one other person from his past life—as he’d quickly figured out once his memories returned—and said person was still living in Radiant Garden.

Brow furrowed curiously, Axel tossed on the first pair of jeans and a shirt he found and jogged to the front door. He couldn’t see who it was through the peephole and so, eyebrow raised, instead he unlocked the door and cracked it open just enough for him to see. He was still a mess after all and he was fairly certain his fly was still down, which wouldn’t have been the prettiest sight to whomever was standing in front of his house.

That ‘whomever’ being the delivery lady…?

Odd. Axel never ordered anything.

“Um…you’re here for me?”

Said delivery lady raised a periwinkle eyebrow and Axel had the distinct feeling she was supposed to be familiar.

“Package for 813 Sunset Avenue?” she asked in a quiet, mellow voice. And Axel blinked as she confirmed his address aloud, what with the irony of his house number finally hitting him now that he knew the significance. He was sure he deserved the annoyed look he earned from her when he chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s me. Wonder who sent this…” He’d mumbled that last part to himself, but the delivery lady shrugged anyway as she pushed it in his hands.

“Don’t know.”

It was lightweight, and nothing inside of it rattled when Axel jiggled the box lightly. Hmm.

“Do I have to sign for it?” he asked, looking back up to the delivery lady to find her holding a phone with a blank space where he assumed his signature was meant to go. In lieu of an answer, she instead simply held it out to him. He set the package down on the floor and scribbled his name in with a forefinger, earning a quiet thank you in response.

“Good day,” she waved, and Axel had the distinct feeling he was missing something.

Wait…

“…Aren’t you,” what had been her name again? Roxas and his Twilight Town friends used to complain about her and the other three she hung around all the time. “…Fuu?”

He assumed he’d gotten it right when she turned back to him, her one visible red eye clouded with what looked like recognition. Memories, maybe?

Ah. She must’ve remembered her past life as well.

“Yes,” was all she had to say before she spun on her heel and went back to her job. And Axel was left a little mind-blown at the idea that he could start running into more people he’d known however many lifetimes ago. How many people _would_ that be? Living the rest of his days out in Twilight Town meant that he’d at least made passing acquaintanceships with the other residences, and so it was no wonder he’d start to recognize them as he saw them. He wondered how many of them would start to slowly come back to him, or if he’d have to meet them again to remember them. He knew Fuu was his usual delivery lady and yet it hadn’t occurred to him until just then that he might’ve known her before, even when his memories had already come back to him. He wondered how many people from his home city he’d suddenly recognize in a new light, despite having known them for most of his life already.

He wondered if they suddenly remembered him too? It might explain the sudden package that he knew _he_ hadn’t ordered.

Axel fixed his clothing—mostly so that his jeans would stop threatening to fall down—and bent down to pick up that mystery package. The return address was unfamiliar, but the name above it was decidedly not.

“A package from Isa…?” he mumbled to himself. Shrugging, he placed it on one of the end tables by his couch, deciding it’d be best to save it for later. He could just call or text Isa after all; they’d grown up together in this life just as they had in the previous one. Even when their conversations had started to dwindle and their visits had all but ended the moment Axel had moved, they were still best friends. A lot more so than previously, even.

It was…strange to think about, really. The idea that there was an entire lifetime of interaction that Axel could suddenly recall. The idea that at some point he and Isa had been friends, and then coworkers, and then enemies, and back to friends. The idea that they held so much power and influence at their fingertips, be it control over fire or darkness or the nothing in-between. The idea that they once fought together; that they once fought each other.

The idea that Axel had once had to choose.

Now here he was in the most mundane situation possible, dressing up for a lunch date with Roxas after receiving a package from Isa. The same Isa Axel used to spend entire weekends with at one of their houses in childhood. The same Isa that Axel used to end up in detention with in junior high. The same Isa that Axel used to work _with_ and not _for_ before he moved.

This Isa would probably congratulate him for his date and that thought shouldn’t have been as weird as it suddenly was.

He wondered how Roxas would feel about this. Would he find it just as weird? He’d never been particularly close to Isa in their past lives, even if he’d at least attempted to forgive and forget. Would he make that same wrinkled expression of distain? The one that Axel tried not to grin at, not because he found it funny, but because it was just so _Roxas_. Would he brush it off and move on? It didn’t concern him in this life and Roxas had never really been the sort to involve himself in too much drama…at least the drama he hadn’t already been dragged into.

Axel wanted to know. He wanted to understand everything about _this_ Roxas. The Roxas that wasn’t burdened with being someone’s lesser half, or not having his own autonomy. The Roxas that wasn’t subjected to living within someone else in a half-existence that he in no way deserved. The Roxas that didn’t have to spend the rest of his life in a body that wasn’t his because it was the only way he could be separate from Sora. The Roxas that was free to be himself from the get-go.

Kicking his shoes on, Axel rushed out of the door in giddy anticipation of meeting _this_ Roxas again.

-o-

They’d found themselves at the bistro in the Tram Common for their lunch date.

The place was old as dirt, but the food it served was still phenomenal. Apparently its recipes had been passed down for generations and not a single chef had lost that magic touch. It made for a quiet start when nothing but utensils scraping plates and food being chewed filled the silence, but this was hardly a deterrent once their meals were enjoyed and finished quickly enough. And Axel was comfortably stuffed enough to make good on his promise from yesterday.

It was worth telling the embarrassing childhood stories if only to see the glowing smile on Roxas’ face.

“—tell ya, the two-week grounding was _worth_ it. The charred pants…not so much.”

Roxas doubled over laughing and Axel couldn’t help the floaty, elated feeling building in his chest as he watched. So what if it was at him for being an idiot kid who set his school uniform on fire?

Axel’d laugh at himself for that one too.

“How’d you figure that’d get you out of school?” Roxas chuckled.

“Well, hey. I figured Ma wouldn’t send me to school with no uniform. Against policy and all that. Little did I know the gym uniform worked just as well in cases like that.”

He neglected to mention that she’d made him pay her back for both ruined uniforms, but the renewed laughter he’d earned in return was rewarding enough that he didn’t bother. Not when his own grin pulled at his cheeks almost painfully and his shoulders shook.

“Somehow I’m not surprised,” Roxas snickered, pushing around the crumbs on his plate with a fork absently. Axel watched for a second as their laughter died down, chin in his hand as he leaned against the table and tried not to give _too_ gooey a stare at Roxas, as a thought occurred to him. Something they hadn’t done in too long…

“Here, c’mon,” he said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. They had a bill to pay, that Axel was fully intending on covering considering how he had asked first—Roxas could argue with him about it later, but he wanted to make sure he could cover the other thing.

One, two, three… Aha! Just enough loose change.

“Axel…?” Roxas blinked up at him from his seat, not quite picking up on what Axel was getting at. Which made sense, but still.

“_C’mon_,” he stressed. It took a moment for Roxas to stand, brushing his shorts off and watching Axel with a suspicious glint in his eye. The sort of look he’d gotten the first time they’d done this, though this time it wasn’t preceded with a blank stare. It certainly was followed by one though, considering how he watched Axel, perplexed, as he waltzed inside the bistro to pay before waltzing back out again just as quickly. It at least finally hit Roxas that he needed to follow, and Axel chuckled to himself when Roxas trailed behind him like a lost pup.

“Where’re we going?” he asked, trotting up to Axel so that they walked side by side now. He still had to tilt his head back when he spoke, and it quirked to the side in curiosity. Axel fought the urge to brush aside the blond strands that had fallen over his eyes with the movement, opting instead to grab his hand and pull him along.

“You’ll see. It’s the icing on the cake.”

Recognition lit up in Roxas’ expression almost immediately.

“…_Oh_.”

Their footsteps slapped against the pavement in eager pitter patter as Axel pulled Roxas through the streets until he laid eyes on his target. It was as shabby and creaky as ever, but his favorite ice cream stand still stood proudly at the edge of the Tram Common, just before the street turned into Station Heights.

“Hang on,” Roxas said as they walked up to it, digging in his pocket with his free hand. Axel raised an eyebrow at him when he pulled out his own wallet. “Don’t even. Like I didn’t notice you foot the bill for lunch.”

“A lunch date that _I_ asked _you_ out on. And an ice cream shack that _I_ brought _you_ to,” Axel snorted, feeling his cheeks start to hurt from how much he’d found himself smiling around Roxas. It was more than he was certain he ever had in a lifetime.

And it was so, _so_ worth it when Roxas returned those smiles. Every time.

Even now.

“You can pay me back later,” Roxas joked, finally pulling his hand from Axel’s as he walked up to the window.

It was all fun and games now, but Axel knew he’d hold himself to that where Roxas wouldn’t. He’d find all sorts of ways to pay him back.

Hopefully on more dates.

He’d sidled up beside Roxas and kept quiet as their ice creams were ordered, making sure not to make any sort of faces that would betray his thoughts. He had to make sure Roxas enjoyed the first date before he started thinking about more. He hoped there _would_ be more.

“You know…” Roxas started as he handed the wrapped ice cream to Axel. It was the usual flavor, of course. He wouldn’t have expected anything else. “I actually haven’t tried sea salt in this lifetime.”

“Really?” Axel asked in mild surprise as he unwrapped his treat. Mild, because it wouldn’t really have surprised him if the islands didn’t have it. Still… “You didn’t have it shipped to you?”

Roxas shrugged at that before shoving his own unwrapped ice cream in his mouth, and Axel had to snort at the image.

“It wouldn’t have felt right,” was his muffled reply. Which, Axel supposed, he understood. He hadn’t really indulged in it much in Radiant Garden, even though it was just as easily available there as it was in Twilight Town. Still, it didn’t feel right buying it from anywhere other than his favorite shack. It was where he and Roxas and Xion used to…

Hmm.

“You, uh…” Roxas peered at Axel in confusion at his suddenly hesitant tone, and Axel couldn’t really blame him for it. This shouldn’t have been as awkward a subject as he felt like it was, and yet…

“You ever hear from Xion?”

Judging by the tiny frown that formed on Roxas’ lips, Axel was going to assume the answer to that question was no.

“Not a peep,” Roxas sighed. Bingo. Axel sighed in tandem. “I haven’t even heard of her anywhere. And it’s weird because I’ve come across so many people from the past. Sora, Riku, Hayner, Pence, Olette…and then you… No Xion though.”

“I see…”

“We’ll find her. I know we will,” Roxas resolved. Axel hoped he was right. It’d be nice to have the whole trio together again.

“We’ll have to invite her out, for old time’s sake. Eat ice cream on the clocktower, y’know?”

“If she remembers us when we find her,” Roxas sighed. He had a point there.

“If she doesn’t, we’ll make friends with her all over again.”

That brought the smile back on Roxas’ face; an accomplishment Axel was proud to have achieved.

“You’re right,” he nodded, taking a bite out of his ice cream. He hummed around it as he chewed with a thoughtful expression.

“Salty, but sweet…”

Axel broke into a wide, amused grin at that, clapping Roxas on the back as he laughed.

“You said that the first time!” The first two times, actually. But Axel wouldn’t bring up his zombie days.

Besides, Roxas seemed to have said it just for the humor anyway.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s true though!” he chuckled, swatting lightly at Axel’s arm. His hand was caught in a firm grip; fingers interlacing as palms were pressed together once again, and it rewarded Axel with another one of those stunning smiles. He squeezed Roxas’ hand and pulled him away again, this time their pace left at a stroll. They had time to waste. It was a Sunday, neither of them were working, Roxas was on vacation and Axel wasn’t pressed about getting ready for work the next day.

“You know, it’s funny,” Roxas started. His voice was quieter now. Mellowed out as they walked off their lunch and enjoyed their dessert.

“What’s funny?”

“Sora and Riku knew who I was…well, used to be the whole time. They got their memories back before they could even understand what they were, having met when they were barely out of diapers.”

Heh. Not a surprise when Axel thought about it. The way those two used to be, he’d have been floored if they turned out to be anything but soulmates. Still, he had a feeling there was more Roxas was getting at.

“I wonder,” Roxas continued. “If Xion might remember us already, and she’s just waiting because she can’t say that she is. Like Sora and Riku had before I remembered. It’d always been weird before then, like they were hiding some big dangerous secret the whole time, but now it’s so _obvious_. They _were_ hiding some big dangerous secret. I’d have thought they were crazy if they told me about past lives and reincarnations before then.”

Which, well… Yeah, that made sense.

It unfortunately also meant they’d have an even harder time finding Xion if she was actively avoiding them.

“We’ll hunt her down,” Axel reassured with what he hoped was confidence in his tone. “Even if it might take a while.”

“Yeah…”

The conversation lulled then as they thought back on their third friend. The lives they led up to the point of meeting again. It was this morning all over again for Axel, being confronted with the possibility of running into old friends without having realized he already knew them. Knowing that somewhere out there, someone might’ve remembered him from a time long passed long before he remembered them.

It was sort of ironic, considering his previous schtick.

“Heh. I guess she’s got us memorized,” Axel mumbled without even thinking. Roxas nearly spat his ice cream out.

“Oh my hell, Axel. Please don’t tell me you’re still on that catchphrase,” Roxas half-coughed and half-laughed. Axel only felt mildly sorry for almost causing him to choke.

“What?” Axel grinned, sliding the rest of his own ice cream in his mouth before tapping his temple with a forefinger. It brought an odd sense of déjà vu to Axel that he tried to ignore. “You mean ‘got it—”

“Stop!” Roxas snorted, pulling his hand from Axel’s once again, this time to cover Axel’s mouth. It didn’t hide the humor he knew was showing on the rest of his face, which brought a look of faux-annoyance to Roxas’. He couldn’t quite hide that upward quirk at the corner of his mouth though.

“I’m cutting you off. So you never have to ask again: yes, Axel, I have it memorized.”

Axel slid his hand up around Roxas’ and let his lips linger for just a second longer on his palm before leaning back. There was a softness to him—a warm feeling that he couldn’t quite describe—at Roxas’ words. The unspoken ‘finally’ didn’t go unnoticed. It’d taken a good long while, but yeah. Roxas had it all back in his memory, just as Axel did.

“I’m glad…” he trailed off. His hand hadn’t released Roxas’, but Roxas didn’t pull away.

“Mhm,” Roxas hummed in agreement.

“This’ll be a story for when you get back home. I can bet they’ll be surprised when you tell them you remember everything.” Whenever that would be. Axel didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to consider the possibility of losing Roxas again. Hell, he’d move to the islands if he had to. He didn’t know what he’d do about work or the house he was still paying on, but he’d figure it out—

“You know what, Axel?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to stay here. I don’t want to go back when there’s nothing for me back home. I wanna be here with you. With Hayner and Pence and Olette. And when we finally meet her again, with Xion too.”

Oh.

Well, that put a halt to Axel’s plans of going MIA and absconding to the islands to live as a beach hermit, but he supposed that was for the best. As long as it was what Roxas wanted…

Though, judging by the determined look on Roxas’ face, the serious knit of his brow, the finality in his voice, that certainly seemed to be the case.

Sighing, in what felt like all of the air being pushed out of his lungs as the nervous pressure faded, Axel pulled Roxas close to him and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in soft gold. Smiling when he felt Roxas reciprocate, even if it was loosely what with a half-eaten ice cream still clutched in one hand.

“Good,” he breathed.

More than good.

Perfect.


	3. Moving In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “As long you don’t mind…” 
> 
> “Are you kidding? Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, not much happening…pure fluff.

Three weeks.

Three weeks of dating. Three weeks of sunny smiles and held hands and warm hugs. Three weeks of texting back and forth late into the night. Three weeks of visits and outings and kisses in front of doors or in the backs of cars.

And about three weeks of watching Roxas struggle through apartment hunting. He’d cemented his decision with a phone call to his mother and had received, in turn, an adamant encouragement for him to stay in Twilight Town and stop breathing down her neck. It was just a matter of finding a place to go at this point. Which, given the circumstances, meant it’d taken just as much time for Axel to finally work through his nerves and ask the question he so desperately wanted to ask.

“Why don’t you move in with me?”

Roxas blinked in surprise at Axel and he found himself floundering.

“W—I… What I mean is… ‘Cause, you know, you’re still looking for a place to live and I’ve got plenty of extra space…” Axel faltered a bit when Roxas raised an eyebrow at him, but he forced himself to recover. He’d at least pitch the idea even if Roxas was uninterested. “So it wouldn’t be a problem for you to… What I mean to say is…”

So far it was not working very well.

Roxas’ judgmental expression cracked, and his lips trilled a bit before he burst into laughter.

“You already had me at ‘move in with you’. I mean, it might be moving a little fast but what’ve _we_ got to hide?”

“Heh. Good point,” Axel sighed, feeling the weight on his chest lighten a bit at Roxas’ positive response.

“You were seriously nervous about that? What, you thought I’d say no? Axel,” Roxas tilted his head to the side with a glint in his eye as if he was speaking the obvious. “You’re a lifesaver right now. Of course I’m not gonna say no.”

This was not as obvious as it apparently should have been.

Axel wanted to do this the right way. Slip into the relationship naturally and let them work their way back up to the familiarity they’d once had. Sure it was technically still there, but everything about their current lives was so _new_. They couldn’t hang back on the past when there was so much to discover.

So yeah, Axel hadn’t really expected Roxas to want to move in with him so easily. He thought he’d be shot down, quite frankly.

“As long as you don’t mind…” Axel chuckled sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head in a nervous tic he thought he’d kicked ages ago. Apparently it was easy to bring out around someone whose thoughts matter so much more to him.

“Are you kidding?” Roxas snickered. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?”

“Wha—waiting?” Befuddled, Axel raised an eyebrow at Roxas: specifically at the idea that he’d been waiting for the chance to move in with Axel. How long? And why didn’t he say anything?

It wasn’t as if Axel wasn’t ready to make the offer the night they met again.

“I can’t mooch off of Hayner and Pence’s place for much longer. It just doesn’t feel right. But…” Roxas sighed then, scooting over so that he was pressed against Axel. They were already situated in his house anyway, lounging on the battered couch and letting a movie play on the tv in the background while Roxas price gauged apartments. It felt more than natural to have him there sharing space with Axel. He fit in as if he belonged there, or as if he’d been there the whole time.

“But?” Axel asked as he laid his cheek against the top of Roxas’ head. The scent of shampoo met him when a few yellow strands tickled his nose, but he didn’t mind so much when he felt an arm wrap around his waist and squeeze just the slightest bit.

“I wanted to spend more time with you, but I couldn’t really justify moving in with you out of the blue like that. Especially when I had _just_ gotten to their place. I wanted you to be the one to ask…” Roxas answered. His tone was a little awkward and his shoulders had hunched up a bit in embarrassment but Axel was endeared nonetheless.

Here he’d thought it’d have been too much to ask.

He couldn’t quite help the laughter that bubbled up in his chest and spilled over, blowing aside strands of Roxas’ hair with each chuckle. Until Roxas tilted his head back to peer up at Axel with a bland look on his face.

“Sheesh, tell me how you really feel—”

“No, no, I’m not laughing at you!” Axel clarified. “I just find it kinda funny that we could’ve gotten this out of the way weeks ago.”

Pursing his lips skeptically for a second, Roxas seemed to let Axel’s words work themselves out in his head before he too ended up laughing.

“Yeah, I guess that _is_ kinda funny.”

“So…” Axel squished Roxas closer to his side then, slipping the tablet out of Roxas’ hand and laying it on his coffee table. Sure it was a cluttered mess, but Roxas didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t seem to mind any of Axel’s space. Which was probably for the best seeing as it was soon to be his space as well. “When do you plan on moving in.”

A tiny smile graced Roxas’ lips then, and it was pressed to Axel’s softly. Roxas didn’t pull away when he answered; Axel could _feel_ his words as much as he could hear them, and it sent a happy warmth through him.

“As soon as you’ll have me.”

“…Today sound good?”

Roxas chuckled at that.

“Someone’s eager.”

“Can you blame me?” Another kiss was shared between them, one that Axel wasn’t even sure which of them initiated. “I get to have you all to myself.”

“I doubt I’ll get everything moved in before the end of the week since most of my stuff’s still in Destiny Islands, but…”

Axel waited with a tiny grin for Roxas to continue.

“I don’t mind sharing the bed with you tonight.”

Oh.

_Oh!_

That wasn’t what… Axel hadn’t expected…

Oh.

“I’m gonna take the blush as a yes?” Roxas asked, a sly smirk crossing his face as he poked at one of Axel’s cheeks. And Axel was too busy nodding vehemently to care that he was being teased.

“_Hell_ _yes_.”

That settled that.


	4. Clocktower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You ever stop to think about how dangerous this is?” 
> 
> “Thanks. Now you brought it up and I’m gonna spend the rest of the date freaking out about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one.

“Come up to the clocktower with me?”

Four months. It’d taken four months to finally find the time to ask this question. Between Roxas moving in and finding a new job and saying his goodbyes and making sure his mom was okay, the first month and a half had been far too hectic for them to do anything extra. Even their dates had to be put on hold while everything was sorted out and space was made for Roxas’ stuff. He didn’t have much. It barely made a dent in the already barren space of Axel’s home, having not taken the time to make it very homely after he’d moved into it. Enough money had gone into the house payments, furniture and basic necessities that it was a wonder he even had enough for regular outings. It was something they were willing to make work, but in the end it hadn’t mattered much when they weren’t even able to take that time out anymore.

After that, they’d fallen into a routine. Axel had to get up earlier than Roxas, who’d managed to get a position with Pence at the local paper—mostly in the printing room, and so he rarely saw him then. And Roxas came home later, so they ended up having late dinners. They were usually too tired to bother with much else and spent their weekends relaxing in the living room in front of a movie, or in the bed napping. Maybe get up to _other_ _activities_ when they were up to it. Nothing that really involved leaving the house.

It was due time that they did.

Axel had run through a number of different scenarios that might spice up their same-old-same-old: a trip out of the city (too much time and money), a date to the amusement park (lines and waiting and it was hot out), a date to the movies (too mundane and there was nothing out he wanted to see anyway), a stroll through town during the sunset (right, because that was enticing and nothing said ‘I love you’ quite like making someone faff around in the summer heat for who knew how long). Nothing really stood out to him.

Except one thing.

A memory.

The image of a warm sunset over the span of an entire town, displayed from a bird’s eye view, came unbidden to Axel’s mind. Long conversations and sea salt ice cream. Smiles and laughter, and all worries of work and Xemnas and Kingdom Hearts left behind.

That was it. It was so obvious Axel couldn’t believe he’d overlooked it. Maybe in the back of his mind he might’ve thought that too was too mundane a date idea to consider, but now that it was at the forefront he couldn’t believe he’d have even entertained the idea of passing it up.

And so he’d asked. Roxas’ answer was as pleasing as it was expected.

“Sure, why not?”

So there they were, seated atop the clocktower at sunset. The nostalgia alone was nearly overwhelming. All that was missing were the black coats and ice cream. They’d opted out of the treats this time. They weren’t nearly as active in this life as they had been in the last, so it wasn’t like they were gonna work off all that sugar very easily.

Besides, the alone time by itself was worth it. The chance to sit close with Roxas, their arms touching and their fingers laced, without having responsibilities hanging over them. The chance to speak with him without the heavy atmosphere of time limits and commute times hanging over them.

Even if his first topic of conversation was almost insultingly unnecessary.

“You ever stop to think about how dangerous this is?”

Axel grimaced and rolled his eyes at Roxas’ nonchalant tone, trying to ignore the way his muscles locked up at the idea of dangling high enough above the ground that one slip would turn him into an impressive facsimile of a pancake.

“Thanks. Now you brought it up and I’m gonna spend the rest of the date thinking about it,” he snorted. Roxas chuckled beside him.

“You’ll be fine.”

“Says you, Mr. I-Skateboard-With-My-Perfect-Balance.”

“Well learn how to skateboard then.”

“Haven’t you heard?” Axel grinned smugly, already imagine Roxas’ reaction to his next words. “Skateboarding is passé.”

He wasn’t disappointed.

“Bullshit! Who said that?! I’ll make their existence passé!”

“That I’d love to see,” he cackled. Roxas’ absolutely offended expression wasn’t helping matters, and Axel was sure his demise would be ending up doubled over with laughter until he leaned out too far and fell to his doom.

He’d earned himself a stuck out tongue and a cold hand when Roxas pulled his away to cross his arms petulantly, but it was worth it.

“Aww, c’mon Rox…” Axel nudged him and was only given a grumpy ‘harrumph’ in response.

“Don’t ‘Rox’ me. Teach these people to call skateboarding passé…” he grumbled.

“It’s not even that big a deal, ya grumpy old man,” Axel sighed dramatically, not quite able to hide the grin that still pulled at the corners of his mouth.

“You’re like six years older than me. Don’t even.”

Well ouch. Low blow, Roxas, bringing a man’s age into the conversation.

“Hey. I’m still young and lively!” Mostly on the inside.

“Yeah, you’re a regular party animal.”

“You makin’ fun of me, shortstack?”

“At least I don’t slam my head into the door jamb every time I leave a room.”

“At least I can reach the cabinets.”

“At least I—” Roxas cut himself off when he broke into a fit of giggles. “What are we even arguing about?”

“I don’t even know.” It was pretty funny though, if only because of how pointless it was.

“Way to start off a date.”

“Hey, at least we’re having fun,” Axel shrugged. Roxas nodded along, relaxing against Axel once again.

“True…”

He was quiet for a moment and Axel wasn’t keen to break the peace, still reveling in the closeness as he wrapped an arm around Roxas and felt the gesture reciprocated.

Just a moment, though. Roxas had, Axel learned, kept the endearing trait of blurting out the first thing on his mind even in this life.

“So, hey. I have a question.”

“I have an answer.”

Roxas clicked his tongue at that.

“Cute. How come you don’t go by Lea?”

“You’re just asking this now?” Axel laughed, prompting a grin from Roxas.

“I don’t know, it just feels natural to call you Axel so I never think about it.”

“Well,” Axel leaned back. “If you ever feel a sudden urge to call me Lea, don’t feel bad. It _is_ my name. I guess I just…”

He could agree with Roxas, honestly. ‘Axel’ just felt more natural.

“I just can’t imagine going by Lea. Even before the memories it never felt right.”

“Hmm.”

Roxas took it for what it was and Axel was grateful for that. He’d gotten plenty of flak most of his life for pitching a fit every time someone other than his parents or Isa called him ‘Lea’, so to see someone accept ‘Axel’ so easily was refreshing.

“So I’ve been calling you a nickname this whole time?” Roxas snorted. “My life is a lie.” And Axel couldn’t quite help shoving him lightly. It was refreshing, he supposed, until Roxas wanted to tease him about it.

“Imagine if I started calling you Sora—”

“How dare you. Never speak to me again.”

Axel burst into jubilant laughter at the disgusted wrinkle of Roxas’ nose and the overdramatic reaction. It was a well-deserved taste of his own medicine.

“That wouldn’t even work with me. My name’s _always_ been Roxas in this life,” Roxas pouted. _Actually_ _pouted_. It was cute.

“You’re fucking adorable, you know that?”

“_Hey!_”

“I’m serious! You know I’m the last person who’d confuse you with Sora. I’m just poking fun,” Axel shrugged. He was met with a solemn sigh and slumped shoulders.

“Nice to know _you_ are. I’ve put up with enough of being Sora, or part of Sora, or Sora’s Nobody. I just want to be me.”

“And that’s exactly what you are. Just you.” Just Roxas. Just perfect.

“…Thanks.”

“Of course.”

The conversation lulled again. It was a lazy end of the day for them, and therefore warranted a lazy date. The feeling was certainly there: that comfortable tiredness that crept up on them as they leaned against one another and basked in the low lighting. It was sort of romantic, actually. It hadn’t really been lost on Axel how romantic it had _always_ been, but having the chance to finally act on it made it that much more significant.

“When do you want to head back?” he chanced, hoping that Roxas was picking up on the same vibes he was.

“Later. I’m fine with staying here for now.” Thankfully, he did.

“Good.”

They stayed at the top of the clocktower until it was nearly pitch black outside and simply enjoyed one another.


	5. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Stay with me forever?” 
> 
> “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’know what, I was expecting the chapters to be longer but I guess not? This one ended up even shorter. And late. _Sigh_.

They’d gotten comfortable with where they were by the year mark.

Which, Axel supposed, was why this was the perfect time to spring this particular question. He’d gotten all jittery about it and it made the fact that he was planning something painfully obvious, but thankfully the reason why had been successfully kept secret.

And now…well…

It was about time he let loose that secret. There was no point in keeping it secret anymore. Not when…

Not when he was ready. And he hoped Roxas felt the same.

At the very least, he hoped if he was shot down that it wouldn’t be too harshly. He could understand wanting to put it off—it’d only been a year, after all—but he _hoped_.

And by the time he’d found himself at the jeweler picking out the right size (a question he went through a lot of subterfuge to have answered) and the right design, he’d cemented himself fully into the cause. This was happening. It was happening because he’d put a lot of time and effort and work and love…and munny into this. He was going to ask.

More than that. He was going to make a promise.

Axel had psyched himself up for it. He’d spent the entire morning jittery, his coffee cup shaking in his hands and his stomach too fluttery with nerves to eat. Roxas had been worried, of course, but Axel had brushed off his hovering and questioning with a shaky ‘I’m fine’ over and over again until it stuck. He went through his entire work day with trembling hands, earning quite a few concerned looks from his coworkers. He’d gotten home and had, in the most stuttered, unintelligible sentences, asked Roxas out for a date night.

And when he’d gotten a yes, he’d nearly imploded. This was _happening_. _What was he going to do?_

He was terrified and exhilarated all at once.

They’d gone out to Sunset Hill for a nice little late-night picnic under the stars. They laughed and ate and snuggled, and Axel had his arms wrapped tightly around Roxas, holding him close so that his face was buried in blond locks, sure to hide the flush that was starting to cover his cheeks. He never thought himself an easily embarrassed man, but Axel was starting to second guess everything.

What if Roxas did say no? What would he do then? Where would their relationship go? He was willing to make it work as long as Roxas was. He wanted it to work. But would it get awkward? Would it hit hard; the feeling of pure rejection settling heavy in his chest like a lead weight?

Axel wanted to tell himself that this was all nonsense. Everything would work out fine.

Yet his hands still shook when he pulled away. When he reached in his pocket, Roxas had shifted out of his lap, back still turned to rummage through the bag for food. When he pulled out the box, it was clutched in a sweaty palm with a grip tight enough to make the casing creak.

And then Roxas turned to him and—

That was not food he was holding.

“So, um,” Roxas started, his gaze off to the side as a light dusting of pink crossed his cheeks. Axel barely noted this though. Not when his attention was on Roxas’ hand. “I was kinda nervous about this, you know? I didn’t really know when to ask, and well… You kinda gave me the perfect opportunity when you suggested we go on a date. And I thought to myself ‘yeah, today’s the day’. And I was kinda worried ‘cause I thought ‘what if he says no?’. But that’s okay, because even if you’re not ready for this, I still want to be with you—”

He was abruptly cut off when Axel surged forward and captured his lips. It wasn’t a gentle kiss, more messy and tongue-y and marred by bumped noses and knocking teeth, but Axel couldn’t pull away. Not when he had Roxas back in his arms, fingers gripped tightly into his clothing as he held him as close as possible. Barely stopping to take a breath because it meant he was too far away. He couldn’t help it, he was overwhelmed.

The sound of a box popping open was the only warning he had before something cool was slid over his ring finger. It fit like a glove.

Finally, Axel pulled away. Just enough that their foreheads touched when he glanced down. Silver and emerald and ornate. A little heart formed in the center of it.

When he met Roxas’ eyes again, they were sparkling with emotion.

“Stay with me forever?”

Axel was choked up. He was crying, he knew. It was messy and his entire face was red and he was sniffling. But he still managed to choke out a watery answer. The obvious answer. The only answer.

“I promise.”

His plans had been blown in all the right ways. Leave it to Roxas…

“Heh… How do you always manage to turn my life upside down?”

Roxas shrugged at that, his own eyes wet and his smile wobbly.

“I try my best.”

“I love you.”

Lips met Axel’s again in a slower, sweeter kiss. The sort that warmed him from the center of his chest to the tips of his fingers and toes. The sort that had his heart beating heavily. The sort that led to passionate nights or sensual mornings or maybe even both. The sort that reminded again and again how perfectly they fit together.

“I love you too,” Roxas murmured against his lips.

It was the sort of kiss that reminded him of _that_ every time.

“You ruined my plans you know,” Axel laughed. He could feel Roxas’ smile.

“Hmm? How so?”

Finally Axel’s hands were sure when they flipped open the box he still had clutched in his right hand. He dug the little gold and sapphire ring out and slid it onto Roxas’ finger before folding their hands together, clutching it tightly.

“I was supposed to be the one to ask.”

Roxas chuckled at that.

“You snooze, you lose Babe.”

“Nah.” Axel looked down at their rings and felt a wide, almost painful smile forming on his face. “I think I won this either way.”


	6. Memories and Future Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What's this box?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again but *shrugs*

Axel had spent the entire evening and following morning grinning sappily at his ring. Sure, Roxas teased him about it relentlessly, but it was all in good jest.

Especially considering how Axel often caught Roxas doing the same with his own ring.

But weddings meant plans, and plans meant work, and both of them had taken a week off to get some of the more icky stuff out of the way. Mostly the legal stuff and the lists of things to buy and people to invite. Both of them needed new suits and that was going to have to be a day all on its own because Axel knew he wouldn’t get away with not letting his mother ramble off suggestions to him over the phone, and that would’ve been too short notice for the time being. Apparently Roxas’ mother was just as bad. Axel wouldn’t know from personal experience: he hadn’t met her in person and the few times they’ve spoken over video call, she seemed normal enough to him. Not anywhere near as neurotic as his own mother could get.

Still, that meant that they had a lot of work ahead of them, and they were already getting a head start on their week by cleaning. It’d be something they wouldn’t have to worry about later, so getting it out of the way was a priority.

Which was how Axel found himself in this predicament.

“Hey, Axel?” Roxas’ muffled voice came from the living room while Axel crouched in the kitchen and scrubbed furiously at what he was certain was becoming a mold stain but for some godforsaken reason _would not come off_.

“Mhm?” he hummed distractedly, mouth twisted in a grimace.

“C’mere for a sec!”

Raising an eyebrow to himself, Axel abandoned his task (for the moment, he’d get that sucker yet) and sidled around cleaning supplies until he reached the living room. Roxas was standing there with a dusty package in his hands, looking it over quizzically.

“What’s this box?” Roxas questioned, turning the cardboard over in his hands inquisitively. Axel only glanced at it at first, not quite sure what sort of boxes could be in his house that would catch Roxas’ interest before doing a double take.

Shit. He’d let that completely slip his mind.

“Fuck, I forgot about that,” he grumbled, running his hand down his face in exasperation. He’d gotten back home that day so high on his own feelings for Roxas that he’d completely forgotten about the package he’d received earlier that morning. It had ended up getting kicked somewhere under some furniture until Axel was in a state of mind to pay it any attention. And just like that, it’d disappeared from his mind.

“Huh?” Roxas furrowed his brow in confusion, glancing between Axel and the box.

“Here,” Axel beckoned and Roxas handed the box over. “I have no clue what it is, but I’m willing to bet Isa’s gonna kill me for not opening it when he sent it.”

Granted, Isa had never brought the damn thing up anytime Axel had spoken with him, so he felt he wasn’t _completely_ to blame here.

“Isa? As in…Saïx?” Roxas asked, eyebrow raised skeptically.

“Uh, technically? He doesn’t like being associated with that name though. Plus, he’s a lot more mellow in this life than he was in the last.”

“Somehow I can’t imagine that…” Roxas trailed off, a slight grimace forming on his lips and a small crease appearing between his eyebrows. Axel reached out and smoothed it over, not sure how to feel about the reaction. After all, even in the past life Isa had made an effort to redeem himself.

Then again, that was after nearly a year of tormenting Roxas and Xion and over a year of treating Axel like his flunky and not his friend. It was…grating to think about, but well. Axel had just wanted his friend back. He was willing to forgive for as long as Isa was asking for forgiveness, and he didn’t do so for free. He’d worked his ass off to earn it: bringing Roxas back and slowly tearing apart Xehanort’s new organization from the inside-out. Even after everything, he’d made an effort to talk to Roxas and Xion. Get to know them and treat them as equals. Do them little favors like bringing them ice creams every day or helping them integrate into normal life, little by little. Helping them study when they enrolled in school and helping them find jobs when they were adults and taking them out on little excursions that he knew made them happy, even if he grumbled about all the ‘kiddy activities’ after. That was the Isa Axel knew. The Isa he’d wanted back.

He hadn’t completely erased what he’d done to Axel and his friends, but he tried his best moving forward. It didn’t mean Roxas and Xion trusted him completely, which was understandable. Spending most of one’s then incredibly short lifetime knowing only derision, condescension and violence from one man was enough to put them off forgiving him even when he tried to atone.

But that was then, and this was now. And the Isa born into this lifetime had done none of those things and didn’t deserve to be held accountable for them.

“Give him a chance, Rox. He’s not the Saïx you knew. Not even close.”

He’d posted on social media about three days prior gushing about his new puppy for god’s sake. He was definitely not Saïx. Just Isa.

“I know, I just…” Roxas took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair before blowing it out in a steady stream of air, his cheeks puffing out as the stress in his brow finally melted away. “Having these memories back isn’t—it’s not like everything came back all at once. I mean yeah, my whole life with you came back to me so easily it was almost like I’d never forgotten, but everyone else…”

Ah. It was just like what Axel had been experiencing. Sometimes he came across someone he remembered from a past life and remembered them then. Sometimes he found himself just randomly thinking of someone he hadn’t even met again in this life. Sometimes _they_ found _him_ after regaining their own memories. He still saw his usual delivery lady from time to time and it was a marvel to consider that she used to run with Seifer’s little gang and antagonize Roxas and his friends. Nowadays she caught him in the background when she delivered packages and waved at him, and it still amused Axel to this day to think back on Roxas’ reaction the first time it had happened.

It gave him some comfort though, knowing that Roxas went through it to. That sometimes he randomly remembered somebody, or that he out of the blue got a phone call from Olette after she’d gotten his number from Hayner and Pence, having had her memory sparked when she met both of them. It was no wonder then that hearing about Isa was a bit of a shock to him. Axel never had much of a reason to bring him up to Roxas before then, after all.

“What would he be sending you though?” Roxas asked, and Axel was brought back to the present and the problem that came with it. The mysterious package.

“More like _had_ sent. It’s been a year…” Axel trailed off, ignoring Roxas’ sputter at his words as he pulled the box from his fiance’s fingers and tugged at the tape around it. It gave at the edges, allowing him to pull the flaps apart with only a little difficulty. And inside was…

“Roxas…”

“Hmm?”

Axel was quiet for a moment as he contemplated the items in the box.

“I think we found Xion.”

“_What?!_”

Roxas scooted into Axel’s space to peer into the box, letting out a gasp at the collection of seashells and the folded piece of paper tucked to the side of them. They were so recognizably _Xion_ that Axel wanted to kick himself for not opening the damn thing before so they could have found her. After all, clearly she found them.

“What’s this?” Roxas mumbled to himself as he plucked the piece of paper out of the box. Axel set it aside and peeked over Roxas’ shoulder as he unfolded what looked to be a letter.

“‘Thinking of you guys wherever you are’,” Roxas started.

_I wish I could say I found you, but Isa won’t tell me where you live. He says when I’m ready to find you, I’ll know. And he’s right. I figure you’d both be exactly where I expect you to be, but I don’t know if you’re together yet or if you’ll remember me. I figured it’d be best to just send you this from an address you trust and hope it might jog some memory. Even if it doesn’t, just know that you’re in my heart. I found my special someone a few months ago and we’re just learning how to live. But I miss you too. _

_When we moved to Radiant Garden, I found Isa and learned that I had just barely missed Axel (or Lea?) moving to Twilight Town. And I think we might follow when we finally get the time and money together. I wanna be together with you guys again! I hope when you do get this that you’ll get back to me soon, but if you don’t that’s okay. When you’re ready, you’ll know. And you can call me then._

_I love you both._

_Xion_

Below the letter, a set of digits were listed. A phone number. Blinking in surprise at Roxas, he was met with an identical expression.

“Holy shit…” Roxas trailed off.

“All this time…” Damn. All this time and Axel and Roxas could’ve long since been speaking with Xion. Axel really wanted to kick himself now. Sighing, he ran a hand over his face with a grimace as Roxas rubbed his arm soothingly.

“It’s okay,” he said. “She didn’t expect an answer right away.”

“Still…”

“Still nothing!” Roxas huffed, his cheeks puffing out as he all but glared Axel down. “You can’t turn back time so there’s no point in dwelling on it! We know _now_, so how about we call her _now_.”

And Roxas had a point. There was no way they could make up for that lost time, and quite frankly Axel wouldn’t trade it for anything, so instead he sighed and nodded. Pulling out his phone, he typed in Xion’s number and his thumb hovered over the call button. Roxas placed a warm palm over his.

“It’ll be alright. Just like old times.”

Old times spent sitting on the clocktower, eating ice cream, laughing and having fun. Old times spent doing missions together or taking trips to the beach or wandering through Twilight Town. Old times before old times: before the pain and the deceit and the mistrust. Before the lies. Before he lost them. Axel wanted to experience at least a sliver of that feeling again.

Smiling at Roxas, he pressed the call button and then the speaker button and waited.

And as it rang, he leaned over to whisper in Roxas’ ear.

“She’s first on the invitation list.”

Needless to say, Roxas agreed.


	7. New Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “C’mon, live a little. What’s the harm in a few new shirts?” 
> 
> “Am I really taking fashion advice from Señor Checkerboard?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much going on in this chapter, but I'll make up for it with the sheer amount of fluff coming next chapter.

“You’d think knowing our measurements now would make this ten times easier…”

Roxas rolled his eyes, rubbing a swath of fabric between his fingers.

“Axel.”

“But somehow,” Axel continued. “This is just as difficult as it usually is.”

“What—” The swath was set down very carefully, very precisely, and very much in warning that Axel was about to get chewed out for complaining. Not even to the wedding yet and they already functioned like an old married couple. “—exactly makes clothes shopping _difficult_?”

“Uh…the fact that I wear the same thing every day?”

“You do not!”

“And that I have no clue how to ‘fashion sense’?”

“Then let me pick!”

“And I don’t really care about getting new clothes anyway. It ain’t like I’m sixteen and shooting out of my pants every five seconds.”

“You realize how that sounded, right?”

“Mature, Roxas.”

He was rewarded with a slightly derisive snort that he chose to ignore.

“Besides, like I said.” Axel plucked at his shirt: black and cotton and collared. The same damn thing he wore every day because why waste brain power on clothes when he could instead waste it on slightly less useless things. “I don’t really care about getting new clothes. Don’t need ‘em.”

Roxas tilted his head back and sighed dramatically. He seemed very gung-ho about this whole thing, which would’ve been cute if Axel hadn’t been dragged into this whole thing with him.

“You look like my teenage emo phase. Except you’re in your thirties.”

“Ouch.”

“C’mon, live a little. What’s the harm in a few new shirts?” Roxas asked, picking up the crumpled swath and shaking it pointedly.

Really, they weren’t even there for shirts. They were there for tuxes. They had to get all measured up and look all fancy-pants for their eventual big day. It was a while off, but the preparations needed to be handled sooner rather than later and they’d both decided on that particular day to get fitted.

Unfortunately, Roxas had seen their trip to the warehouse as a chance for an excursion, so now Axel was stuck shopping.

Honestly. He never liked shopping. He liked napping. Maybe going out for a nice walk. A trip somewhere once in a blue moon. Not sifting through clothes that who knew how many other people had gotten their grubby fingers on.

Not to mention, his job didn’t require much out of him per the dress code so he saw no reason to wear anything more than his button ups and slacks, and that style of dress just sort of…_oozed_ into daily life because it meant he didn’t have to take all this extra time out trying to decide on what to wear for the day. He’d been called boring for it, sure, but he liked to think that his colorful personality—and probably his hair—made up for the difference.

For some reason, Roxas disagreed.

“Am I really taking fashion advice from Señor Checkerboard?”

“Very funny.”

And true. Roxas seemed to have kept his like of light and dark contrast in the form of checker print. Which Axel didn’t mind, but he couldn’t see how that’d be much different from his own usual attire.

“Look,” Roxas continued, finally tossing aside the cloth for good and standing up from the little bench outside the dressing room. There was a pile of clothes beside him that shifted dangerously at the movement, and Axel hoped to himself that they’d tip over and Roxas might lose interest in them. They were all…varied, at least he could say. “It doesn’t have to be gaudy, but… Let’s at least try to look like normal people? Now that we _are_. We don’t _have_ to wear black all the time, and personally I find that refreshing.”

Axel could practically hear the unspoken ‘we don’t have to wear those black coats anymore’ in Roxas’ words.

Sighing, he finally relented.

“Alright. New clothes it is. Let’s find something…not black.”

The smile that graced Roxas’ face was worth the next three hours they spent trying clothes on and blowing out their wallets.


	8. Kisses and Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re a mess, aren’t we?” 
> 
> “At least we’re a mess together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy AkuRoku Day!

One more month. Just four more weeks. Thirty days, seven hundred and thirty hours, forty-four thousand minutes.

It all seemed so close and yet so far away. It’d taken an entire lifetime to get to this point. Plus another good chunk of a second lifetime. A year and a half since they met each other again. The thought was daunting but…

They were ready for it. Axel was ready.

It meant a lot of plans and time off and money spent. Papers to be signed and areas to be scouted. Invitations to be sent. Catering, clothing, reception-planning, the works. And it’d been just as stressful as they imagined, if not more so.

But one more month. That made it worth it. The idea that in such a short time frame, they’d be truly and surely promised to each other. Not that they really weren’t before, but it was nice to make it official.

Of course, this meant that the days leading up to it were dragging. The entire day at work had felt like a slow crawl spent watching the minutes tick by. And by the time Axel had gotten home, he had barely enough energy to at least shower before he crawled in bed.

He didn’t even bother with pants. Pants were useless as far as he was concerned.

Besides, it wasn’t like Roxas would mind.

He started to drift into a half-conscious state; the sort where one wasn’t really sleeping but wasn’t aware enough to be considered awake. Thoughts of bells and rings and cake drifted at the back of his mind in images that he couldn’t quite make sense of. Like the cake growing legs and running off. Or the bells chiming inside the rings, except the rings were as tall as buildings. The sort of oddity one expected to see in their dreams…and Axel wasn’t entirely sure he _wasn’t_ dreaming but he at least had some semblance of control over his thoughts if he was able to consider it weird in the first place.

Soon that started to fade as well. His mind blank, peaceful, he was a few breaths away from falling into a true sleep. Not even the orange light filtering through the curtains was enough to keep him up, though he found it annoying enough to turn his head.

And someone was beside him.

Brow furrowed, Axel opened his eyes at the feel of someone’s even breath on his face.

That someone being Roxas, of course. Still, Axel didn’t even hear him get home. Or get into bed with him. He really must’ve been out without even realizing it. He certainly felt groggy enough to believe it.

“Rox…?” he mumbled, sliding his arm across the sheets until his knuckles brushed against Roxas’ chest. He too was unclothed and slightly warm, as if he’d just gotten out of the shower as well.

Well…not ‘just’ for Axel considering he’d nearly slept the day away.

“Hmmm,” Roxas hummed in response. His eyes were still closed and his breathing was still slow, but he was awake enough, Axel supposed. He scooted closer so that they were pressed together, shoving one of his arms under Roxas while the other draped over his waist. It brought a tiny smile to his face when he felt Roxas respond in kind.

“What time did you get in?” he asked. Axel wasn’t overly concerned with whatever time Roxas had gotten home, but he liked to listen to his voice. Especially in moments like these when they were sleepy and everything was quiet and warm and comfortable. Axel could snuggle close to Roxas, face pressed against his hair, and press kisses to his scalp and forehead. Much like he was doing now.

“Mmm,” Roxas hummed again, relaxing even further against Axel with his head tilted up. Like he was searching for more kisses. Axel was happy to deliver. “About an hour ago. Maybe less…”

“Huh. I really must’ve been out, then,” Axel sighed. It turned into a yawn that passed on to Roxas and muffled his words when he responded.

“Yeah, like a light. I thought about waking you up, but I figured you needed that sleep.”

“Hm.” Maybe he did? It’d been a busy past few months, after all. “How was work?”

Roxas went into his day and Axel let the sound of his voice ease all of his limbs until he felt like jelly. Wrapped around Roxas in what could barely be considered a cuddle, still pressing kisses into his hair with gentle lips. Shuddering slightly at the feel of Roxas’ fingers running absentmindedly up and down his spine. Almost lulled to sleep yet again.

Almost.

He wanted to enjoy this time with Roxas. He wanted to listen to him talk about his day, and hold him close and feel Roxas’ smile against his chest. Maybe it was because he thought he had to make up for lost time, but it wasn’t just that. He wanted to enjoy Roxas. Life wasn’t looming over their shoulders anymore, holding them up to responsibilities and expectations that shoved the fate of the worlds in their palms and expected them to do better than their best. Everything was normal and perfect and mundane; just the way Axel wanted it. All the good without the bad. The chance to be friends with Xion again (and subsequently Naminé when they learn that she was Xion’s special someone), the chance to run into familiar faces and see them in a new light, the chance to gain old friendships back without the hang-ups that ruined them in the first place marring everything. The chance to spend the rest of his life with Roxas.

“Hey,” he interrupted. Roxas had begun rambling about one of the printers crapping out on him anyway, so Axel doubted he’d cut into anything too important. At the very least, Roxas seemed to appreciate the break in conversation.

“’Sup?”

“You know I love you, right?”

Roxas chuckled in response.

“I know, Axel. You know I love _you_, right?”

Axel hugged Roxas closer to himself, smiling into his hair.

“Good, ‘cause you’re stuck with me.”

For the rest of forever, hopefully.

“As long as you remember that you’re stuck with me.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got it—”

“_Don’t_.”

“—memorized.”

“Axel.”

Both of them broke into giggles, a testament to how sleepy and comfortable they both were, that lasted longer than need be.

“We’re a mess, aren’t we?” Axel sighed, finally calming down when his stomach had started to hurt from all the laughter.

“At least we’re a mess together,” Roxas smiled up at Axel before snuggling closer and pressing his lips to Axel’s collarbone. Trailing them up until they reached the column of his throat. By the time they got to his chin, Axel tilted his head down to capture them with his own. Chaste, but lingering.

“Sounds good to me,” Axel whispered against Roxas’ lips before pressing another kiss to them.

One kiss turned into two, three, four… More than Axel was willing to count. More than he cared to catalogue. Not when Roxas rolled on top of him, sliding his hands from around Axel’s torso, fingers trailing along his ribcage and sending sparks along his skin. Raising the small hairs along his body and patterning his flesh with goosebumps. He felt hot and cold all at once with Roxas’ cool fingertips drawing circles into his skin. Lightly running the length of his sternum before flattening into a palm over his pectoral, a pinky brushing his nipple. Axel knew his breathing was heavier now. His hands shaking as they gripped tight at Roxas’ waist.

He’d wondered when they’d reach this point. The cuddling was great, but they tended to explore farther than that after just cuddles had run their course. It was no different now as Axel finally let go of Roxas’ waist to slide his hands over that warm, tan expanse of skin. He’d gotten to know it thoroughly the first time they’d done this, running his fingers over every freckle as his lips followed with wet kisses. And yet he was still entranced. Still trailing over every inch of exposed skin, his hands smoothing down the backs of Roxas’ thighs before drifting back up to cup plush cheeks. Squeezing them firmly and smiling when Roxas laughed.

‘Get on with it’, he might as well have said. Not impatiently though. He was enjoying this.

Axel ignored the unspoken order and took his time. He wanted to explore Roxas again. And again, and again. He captured those warm lips with his own as his hands slid up and around to Roxas’ chest, quick to play the same game Roxas was playing with him. Rubbing his thumbs over pink nipples and swallowing each low moan he earned in return. Trailing his fingers down warm sides and over firm thighs until he reached the insides. Rubbing at the sensitive skin and earning a bite at his bottom lip in return.

Where their kisses had been soft and sweet before, they were now hot and heavy. Lingering. The taste of Roxas lay thick on Axel’s tongue, renewed with every swipe of Roxas’. Breaths and saliva mixed until wet, smacking gasps filled the air. Hips ground together, lining them up _perfectly_ and Axel groaned at the electricity that ran up the length of his spine and the heavy arousal that settled in his groin. The waves of pure pleasure that radiated through him from where he and Roxas were joined.

Their lips seldom parted, even when the kisses got messier, mixed in with sighs and moans and expletives and bitten off sentences. Even when their caresses turned to fondles, and then to rough grips, and then to clenching fingers and nails biting into skin. Even when their movements became so rough and frantic and desperate that their kisses were barely more than faintly connected lips as they breathed each other in. Even when they parted briefly, heads tipped back as their bodies rocked together, they were quick to rejoin.

Even in the afterglow when their energy was spent and their limbs were jelly, they pressed their lips together softly in little pecks that said ‘I love you’ in every unspoken way.

Even when they fell asleep wrapped tight in each other’s arms, tuckered out and satisfied.

Just more month and this would officially be their forever.


End file.
